At the Dolores Park Meeting: Pick Your Poison

Love is a word mentioned often at the meeting. As in: “I love this park.” “We all love this park.” “Everyone loves this park.” And the statement most frequently uttered by representatives of San Francisco Park and Rec, “We all know how much you love this park.”

This was a meeting held at Dolores Park Church last night, in response to vociferous public outrage that bubbled to the surface at a meeting earlier this month about the general park renovation.

Almost none of the neighborhood people at the meeting had realized that SF Rec and Park had sold two concession permits to sell food and coffee in Dolores Park. The money earned from the concessions (12.5 percent in profits) would flow directly into SF Rec and Park’s general operating budget. The carts that will be run by La Cocina, a local non-profit, and Blue Bottle Coffee, an Oakland founded company, are temporarily on hold. The contracts with the carts, as they are written, can be revoked with 30 days notice.

“It’s a simple math problem, folks,” says Phil Ginsberg, general manager of SF Rec and Park. “Dolores Park is not just loved in this neighborhood. It is loved over the city.”